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Karas

Karas

Karas

Karas is a main character from the six-part OVA Karas (鴉-KARAS-, Karasu?, lit. The Raven) series produced by Tatsunoko Production to commemorate their 40th anniversary. Karas was first televised as a pay-per-view program from March 25, 2005 to August 3, 2007. Neither man or spirit, Karas is the "Protector of the City." He seeks to throw away his last trace of individuality and become a servant of the city.

Appearance

Karas has a slim figure, and is actually a suit of armor animated by human souls infused into them. Karas appears to be wearing a black metal plate that covers his whole torso, a whitish-silver belt with an emblem in the middle and gray thigh protectors that have a slit across the top. Karas also wears gray spiked shoulder plates, gray knee pads with three ridges lining across vertically, gray calf protecters with three leather straps, gray metal shoes with a tongue that covers the top of the shoes and ankles and gray arm plates with three spikes lined across. Finally, Karas wears an odd shaped helmet in the shape of a Raven's head, tiny blue glowing slits as eyes and what appears to be feathers that cover the front of his neck.

Personality

Karas is the name of any of the city's appointed agents. They protect the city from any evil that plans to threaten the city and destroy them. Karas have a dark nature and are "menacing" in their look. Karas are modeled after Ravens as Ravens always seem to be watching over the city.

Abilities

When humans are transformed into Karas their strength drastically increases and they gain "superpowers" which allow them to transform into a car, an aircraft, or an armored crusader. This transformation makes them the superpowered agents of the city and skilled swordsmen.

Special Moves[1]

Karas's special moves are loosely based on his abilities in the OVA.


  • Cloudy Outer Mirror (Ungaikyou)

Makes Karas quickly spin his sword in the form of a mirror, which can reflect projectiles, and the timing is very easy. This move also does a lot of stun, but it has short range and the stun only affects grounded opponents. You must land this move if you want to land Zaneijin, your Level 1 Hyper.

As an assist this move is acceptable because the stun properties are still there, but since the range is poor you'll want to call Karas when you are reasonably close to the opponent.


  • Fire Chariot, Evening Calmness, Nightly Road Fork Wheel or Night Blade (Kasha, Yoinagi, Yashaguruma or Yatou)

A three-part input attack where Karas dashes forward and begins his offensive pressure. The Light version of the initial dash travels the shortest distance, but has the least recovery time. The dash portion of the attack does a lot of stun, so you can feel free to not continue the rest of the chain and to do another combo instead if you land the first hit. The second command(Yoinagi) in the string strikes low. This isn't very useful since most opponents always block low, but if you're continuing from the initial hit this move is required to continue the chain.However, you have two choices for the last input. The first choice is to do a finishing strike(Yatou) and knock down the opponent (which is unsafe on block against most characters) or to do an overhead attack(Yashaguruma).

The overhead attack is reasonably fast and you can combo from it without Baroque. If you manage to land the overhead attack when the opponent is not grounded, it will wallbounce them.

Use this move to cross the screen and apply a quick mixup. You should always use an assist to cover your path when you do this. Karas' walkspeed is terrible, so this move can help him chase down characters. Lastly, this move charges rather quickly, so you don't have to hold back on your joystick for too long. Note that mixup might be weak on this move as after Yoinagi, the opponent can quickly block high since the two next followups can be blocked that way.


  • Howling God (Narukami)

Kara's anti-air where he slashes upward in a glowing aura, and a very good one. It has an incredible amount of priority and will win almost any air-to-air or ground-to-air battle. Since Karas actually maintains a close horizontal distance to the opponent after landing this, he can actually dash underneath a struck opponent and do a Narukami again to maintain a mixup.

If you're pressuring someone in the corner, you can use this move, immediately Baroque it and attack from the air.

Karas moves pretty far forward when doing this move, but the horizontal hitbox on it is so good it doesn't really matter.


  • Leaping Water Serpent (Tobimizuchi) | Floating Boat (Ukifune) or Fishing Fox (Tsurigitsune)

Doing the first motion will cause Karas to throw out a whip that ensnares the opponent. Depending on the second motion you choose, Karas will either pick up the opponent and slam them into the wall(Ukifune), or yank them towards him at an arc(Tsurigitsune).

The first option is usually the better option because it's easier to combo after and it puts the opponent in the corner, which is where Karas always wants his opponents to be. It's possible to combo into this move from a standing Hard Attack, but the timing is a little hard.

To combo after the wall slam, use a standing Medium Attack. If you're having trouble getting Karas to do anything after the chain grab, try not to buffer the second motion during the grab. You should actually wait a moment after Karas has grabbed the opponent before doing the motion.

Hyper Combos[2]

In Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, most of Karas's special abilities are wholesale from the OVA. This includes his specials and Hyper Combos.


  • Afterimage Blade (Level 1, Zaneijin)

Karas during Ungaikyou, turns the blade sideways and disappears while the katana zips from several directions at his opponent. This Hyper will only activate if you do the motion during a regular Ungaikyou. Since the normal Ungaikyou deals a lot of stun, it's pretty much a guaranteed Hyper hit if Ungaikyou lands.

This Hyper does a lot of damage and it's not too hard to combo into, but the longer your combo string goes on the more unlikely it is that you will be able to land this Hyper. The reason for this being that Shield Blade only does a lot of stun if the opponent is grounded, and after Karas performs the first phase of his combo string the opponent will be lifted off the ground, making them more immune to the stun of Ungaikyou and making it impossible to combo into this Hyper without complicated DHCs.

This Hyper is good for chip damage since it auto-tracks the opponent. It's unsafe on block, though. Lastly in Crossover Combinations this Hyper performs well, because if you have a partner whose Hyper ends early, you can combo the opponent both during and after Karas' Hyper animation.


  • Unknown Fire (Level 2, Shiranui/Shiranuhi)

Karas poses, then if hit slashes and explodes the opponent with a motion of his sword. As with all counters, you'll want to be careful when you throw this out there, because if your opponent does not attack you you'll leave yourself open to big punishment. As a Karas player the last thing you want to do is to leave yourself open with one less Hyper bar than before.

This move does a lot of damage, though; and if you can accurately predict a move, then this Hyper is for you. This counter doesn't work against throws, projectiles or other Hypers.


  • Icy Shadow Slaying-Moon (Level 3, Hiei Zangetsu)

An attack straight from the Karas anime series. Makes him pose and throw his shadow at his opponent. If it hits they get tied up in a huge web and pulled up in front of the moon, Karas then jumps and launches a vicious sword attack that does a lot of damage.

This is a solid Hyper that is easy to combo into. Since it takes quite a large investment to use for Karas, make sure that this Hyper finishes off whatever character got hit with it or at the very least doesn't get damage scaled to oblivion.

This Hyper can pick opponents off the ground that have been knocked down, making it possible to combo off of Kara's throws. Any attack from Karas that does a lot of stun such as Ungaikyou or the dash portion of Karas' Kasha can help you land this. If you are trying to combo this from a throw, make sure you use the back-throw, not the forward one; the back-throw causes less damage scaling.

Quotes

Win Quotes

  • "......(Partner)... Tell me... Why do you fight...?"
  • ".........As you wish... Your wish is my command, Yurine..."
  • "...Be gone... Go back to where you came from..."
  • "...I... think I... I just recalled something..."
  • "...Mission... Accomplished..."
  • "...The city... It's... It's getting bigger..."
  • "...The duty of a Karas... is to protect the city..."
  • "...This city... You will not defile it..."

Win Quotes (vs. Characters)

  • "...I will put an end to you... No longer will you spread filth and disease..." (vs. Doronjo)
  • "...This city already has a protector... ...Your assistance is not required..." (vs. Gold Lightan)
  • "...This man... is not completely human...! ...There is demon blood in his veins...!" (vs. Kaijin no Soki)
  • "...You ask me my reason for living... ...The city...The city is everything to me..." (vs. Megaman Volnutt)
  • "...Your presence bodes ill for this city... ...I will see all demons destroyed...!" (vs. Morrigan)
  • "...Your style of fighting... It imparts too much damage to the city...!" (vs. Polimar)
  • "...I feel a pleasant breeze... emanating from your punches..." (vs. Ryu)
  • "...You say you protect the planet... ...Your power does not match your ambition..." (vs Tekkaman)
  • "...I cannot imagine how you must feel... Having to hunt down your friends and family..." (vs. Tekkaman Blade)
  • "...Even if one is not human, if you have spirit... I guess one could still be powerful..." (vs. Zero)

References

  1. Special Moves information taken at http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2009/may/19/karas-tatsunoko-vs-capcom-character-guide/
  2. Hyper Combo information taken at http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2009/may/19/karas-tatsunoko-vs-capcom-character-guide/
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